Christopher Hutchison

7th Heaven

The intent of the 7th Heaven project was to rebuild the classic Fluevog derby shoe to simplify the construction, improve comfort and reduce environmental impact.

The 7th Heaven was relocated to a factory in Portugal to take advantage of new material innovations that achieved performance, cost and sustainability goals.

The new design of the soles enabled the use of recycled materials and combined the welt, midsole and outsole into a single molded component that improved durability and reduced the construction cost.

Featured in Anna Sui's Spring 2020 RTW Collection for NYFW and the Fluevog x Zandra Rhodes Spring 2022 Capsule Collection.

Made in Portugal.

Last Design/Development

3D CAD adjustments

Rapid prototyping and adjustments done by hand

Lasted upper sampling for fit and silhouette revisions

Technical Design/Development

3D CAD design

Rapid prototyping

Blueprints/tech pack

Factory maquettes for spec approval

Injection sampling and mold adjustments

Construction sampling for fit, performance, and design revisions

Grading specs

Size sampling/wear testing for revisions to fit and performance

Component Cost Reduction: component costs were reduced by roughly 50% by combining a 4-part outsole into a single component

Sole Design/Development

3D CAD design for TPR injection molding

Material Innovation: Sustainability - 100% recycled factory waste content

Material Innovation: Multi-Material Molding - welt and outsole were developed to be co-molded with an expanded TPR "midsole" layer that allows for a three colour/material outsole that is a fully bonded single-component

Material Innovation: Colour and Finish - development of brush off painting techniques, metallic powder injection, neon TPR colourways

Construction Design/Development

Development of cemented strobel-like upper construction for increased flexibility and comfort

Development of OrthoLite® Hybrid™ molded insoles for increased comfort

Material Innovation - Sustainability - insole uses 20% recycled content

The new 7th Heaven was designed under the creative direction of John Fluevog and the Design Director.